Sen. Tom Cotton (R., Ark.) on Wednesday condemned the rise in anti-Semitic attacks and criticized New York's criminal justice reforms that favor the swift release of criminals.
"Anti-Semitic attacks are a symptom of a larger breakdown of public order in our nation’s cities caused by politicians who are letting dangerous criminals roam our streets," Cotton said on the Senate floor. "While Jews were being attacked in New York City, a law went into effect eliminating pretrial detention and bail for most crimes—including serious crimes like stalking, arson, robbery, even manslaughter and negligent homicide."
"This law was a gift to criminals just in time for the holidays," Cotton added. "In some cases, it came with an actual gift: New York City’s criminal justice system gives goodies like taxpayer-funded movie tickets for criminal suspects just for showing up to court."
New York City saw a rise in anti-Semitic crimes and reported nine attacks against Jews over the holidays, with new crimes being reported nearly every day since.
The Arkansas senator noted an increase by 37 percent of anti-Semitic crimes across the United States since last year. He also explained that anti-Semitic hatred takes various forms.
"Anti-Semitism is the ancient hatred, but today it can appear in new disguises," Cotton said. "It festers on Internet message boards and social media. It festers in so-called Washington think tanks like the Quincy Institute, an isolationist blame-America-first money pit for so-called scholars who’ve written that American foreign policy could be fixed if only it were rid of the malign influence of Jewish money. It festers even on elite college campuses, which incubate the radical Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement—a movement to wage economic warfare against the Jewish state. These forms of anti-Semitism may be less bloody than street crime in New York, but they channel the same ancient hatred, the same conspiratorial and obsessive focus on the Jewish people."